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On RTD, high schooler used to dodging fentanyl, chaos

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:42:54 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — A family heading to the holiday festivities downtown reached out to the FOX31 Problem Solvers in fear after using RTD to attend the Parade of Lights in Denver.It’s the season of holiday cheer and fun family activities downtown. But the RTD train ride home from the Parade of Lights last Saturday night was anything but joyful for mother Cindi Clark and her daughter.“My daughter starts yelling, 'Quit doing fentanyl on the train,'” Clark said. “And we turn around, and they're sitting like a foot away from us."Clark’s daughter, Aaliyah Villarreal, said she’s now used to the smell of smoke on the train as she and her friends use RTD often.“Lately, it's really bad,” Villarreal said. “Like every time we're on there, someone's either smoking fentanyl or it's just chaotic on there.” FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox It’s gotten to a point where the sophomore in high school knows how to react."If it gets too like clouded up in there and, you k...

Task force tracks down unregistered sex offenders in Denver metro

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:42:54 GMT

ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — A special law enforcement team is going after sex offenders in the state with Operation Colorado Cleanup. The U.S. Marshals Service invited FOX31 to see firsthand how hunting down sex offenders led to uncovering other crimes in metro-area neighborhoods. Colorado hate crimes likely underreported, despite spiking to record highs One deputy marshal described their fugitive track-downs as professional hide and seek. Specifically with Operation Colorado Cleanup, the mission is finding 1,800 noncompliant sex offenders with warrants for their arrests in the state.The operation is led by the U.S. Marshals Service, with local deputies and federal agencies teaming up, county by county, to track down convicted felons.FOX31 rides along for Marshals Service operationIn the pre-dawn hours, while most are sleeping, the task force takes advantage of the darkness, searching for those who don’t want to be found. The team gathered for a briefing before the first stop of...

Colorado hate crimes likely underreported, despite spiking to record highs 

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:42:54 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — New data from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation shows the state is on pace to match or exceed last year's record high of reported hate crimes.Yet despite those statistics, state leaders still believe 82-96% of those crimes are not being reported.“Some people just don’t feel safe reporting to law enforcement, and some people don’t feel that if they do report, that something can happen, said Scott Levin with the Anti-Defamation League.Levin said the ADL has seen a 300% increase in antisemitic events amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.“That’s had an impact here in the United States, and here in the community," he said. Polis to Biden: Reschedule marijuana before 2024 Metropolitan State University of Denver student Morgan Shepard said he witnessed antisemitic hate crime at a recent rally.“I have seen quite a bit, especially at some of those protests. There were people who made throat-cutting motions,” he said. “I think the people who held those beliefs have always held ...

Florida won’t turn over lottery winnings

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:42:54 GMT

She won a little lottery money. The bad news: the state took it and said she owed them money, but she doesn’t. She still couldn’t get her lottery winnings, so she asked Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser to help her hit the jackpot.When Marlene looks at the pictures on her wall, including her two adult children, she feels like a lucky lady.Marlene Campbell: “I’m blessed. Yeah, I’m blessed, I’m blessed.”And she wanted to be lucky in another way, after she read about people winning the lottery.Marlene Campbell: “I was just curious and said, ‘Hey, let me see if today’s my lucky day.'”She bought a scratch-off ticket. She scratched. She screamed.Marlene Campbell: “I was so shocked when I scratched off and saw the amount I won: $1,000.”She headed to the Miami Lakes lottery office, filled out the form to collect her cash … and her lucky streak ended.Marlene Campbell: “The lady called me, and she told me I w...

Julia Roberts, ‘Leave the World Behind’ co-stars talk about making new Netflix thriller

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:42:54 GMT

Imagine planning a nice vacation with your family, only to have it interrupted by a stranger bearing news of a cyberattack. That’s the premise of the new Netflix movie “Leave the World Behind.” The film brings Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali together to take on a strange new world.Julia Roberts (as Amanda Sandford): “I went online this morning, and I rented us a beautiful house out by the beach.”Life’s a beach, especially when your family vacation takes an unexpected turn.Julia Roberts: “This is a story about a family that goes on vacation until there’s a knock at the door in the middle of the night, and then the rest of the movie is what happens in the light of day from that point.”Mahershala Ali (as G.H. Scott): “I’m so sorry to bother you, but this is our house.”Mahershala Ali and Julia Roberts star in the new Netflix thriller “Leave the World Behind.” Their characters must stick together to surv...

Ovarian cancer: New steps toward early diagnosis

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:42:54 GMT

The dream of early detection for ovarian cancer is now one step closer to reality: according to the results of a new study published today in Science Translational Medicine, it would be possible to identify, years in advance of the first clinical manifestations of the disease, molecular alterations specific to ovarian cancer DNA in swabs already in use for the Pap test — the common cervical cancer screening exam.Early detection of ovarian cancer, of which symptoms manifest usually in the last stages of the disease, is critical for survival. In fact, the survival rate at five years is just 30 percent for cancers diagnosed at stage III (or more), the most abundant, but it is 90 percent when the tumor is diagnosed at stage I.“Ovarian cancer survival is highly dependent on the timing of diagnosis: changing our ability to make early diagnosis means changing the chances of cure. And that is exactly what we believe is possible through an innovative, yet fairly simple approach: applyi...

Waltham police officer and National Grid worker killed in crash

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:42:54 GMT

A Waltham police officer and a National Grid worker were killed Wednesday in a multi-vehicle crash in Waltham that also injured two other National Grid workers, the Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said. A 54-year-old New Hampshire man was taken into custody in connection with the crash after Ryan said he initially fled the scene, stole a police cruiser at knifepoint and led police on a chase. While investigators continued to comb through the scene on Totten Pond Road past 11 p.m., a procession was also underway carrying the body of the fallen officer from Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Boston.The crash happened near 4 p.m. Speaking in a press conference moments before 11 p.m., Ryan said Peter Simon of Woodsvale, New Hampshire had been driving his pickup truck east on Totten Pond Road when he began to make a U-turn. Ryan said Simon struck another vehicle while turning around. She said h...

2 women stabbed in Dedham

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:42:54 GMT

Two women were stabbed and a man later died in connection with an incident in a home in Dedham Wednesday, officials said. Dedham police in an initial statement said officers first responded to the scene on Jackson Pond Road around 6 p.m. Speaking near 11 p.m., Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said people in a home in the area called police after they said a man stabbed two people he was related to. Morrissey said officers arrived to find a man in distress on Jackson Pond Road. Officers subsequently deployed pepper spray and a stun gun as they took the man into custody, according to Morrissey. Morrissey said the man continued showing signs of mental and physical distress and was treated at the scene before he was later taken to an area hospital, where he died.Morrissey said the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine the cause and manner of the man’s death at a later date.In the meantime, Morrissey said the two women who were stabbed in this inciden...

New York Yankees pull off blockbuster deal for slugger Juan Soto

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:42:54 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Yankees acquired All-Star slugger Juan Soto in a blockbuster trade with the cost-cutting San Diego Padres on Wednesday night.San Diego received right-handed pitchers Michael King, Jhony Brito, Randy Vásquez and Drew Thorpe along with catcher Kyle Higashioka. In addition to Soto, the Yankees get Gold Glove center fielder Trent Grisham.Both teams announced the trade late Wednesday night.It’s the second blockbuster deal involving the 25-year-old Soto in less than two years. The three-time All-Star has one season of team control left and is likely to get a salary around $32 million after batting .275 with 35 homers, 109 RBIs and a .930 OPS in his only full season with the Padres.San Diego acquired Soto from Washington on Aug. 2, 2022, after he turned down a $440 million, 15-year offer from the Nationals.Soto joins a Yankees outfield that projects to have fellow All-Star Aaron Judge in center and newly acquired Alex Verdugo in the other corner. Soto, li...

Padres' Soto, Grisham traded to Yankees

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:42:54 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego Padres outfielders Juan Soto and Trent Grisham have been traded to the New York Yankees, according to the team.The deal sends Soto and Grisham to the Yankees in exchange for right-handed pitchers Michael King, Jhony Brito, Randy Vásquez and Drew Thorpe, as well as catcher Kyle Higashioka, President of Baseball Operations & General Manager A.J. Preller said in a news release Wednesday evening.Soto, who was traded less than two years ago from the Washington Nationals to the Padres, comes off a 2023 All-Star season after batting .275 with 35 homers, 109 RBIs and a .930 OPS. The 25-year-old now joins fellow All-Star Aaron Judge with the Yankees. Former FOX 5 reporter battles rare cancer Here's more on whom the Padres received: King: The 28-year-old pitcher posted a 4-8 record with six saves and a 2.75 ERA (32 ER, 104.2 IP) in 49 games for the Yankees in 2023. Brito: The 25-year-old pitcher went 9-7 with one save and a 4.28 ERA (43 ER, 90.1 IP) in 25 appearan...